


If Only

by Headphone_Love



Series: Touch [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Hinata Shouyou is a Dork, M/M, Possessive Tsukishima Kei if you squint, Protective Tsukishima Kei
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-20
Updated: 2017-05-20
Packaged: 2018-11-02 17:49:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10949631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Headphone_Love/pseuds/Headphone_Love
Summary: Tsukishima has been protecting Hinata for a few months.The ginger doesn't want to die.Maybe the blond doesn't want him to either...maybe.-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-





	If Only

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a OTP prompt send to me by an anon on tumblr. 
> 
> ""Killed him? Wait, what? Like....really?".  
> They mentioned in the anon they had lost the link to the tumblr page they saw it on, so if anyone knows the name of the page, please let me know. I want to credit the people who were kind enough to post these ideas ^^  
> ~HxL

"Killed him? Wait, what? Like.... _really_?"

Tsukishima shushed him for the nth time, glaring at the ginger that he was supposed to be protecting. Why the idiot beside him was so valuable, he would never really understand. His job wasn’t to ask questions,; his job was to make sure that the moron stayed alive. Considering that he had kept him alive for the past few months, he didn’t feel like having him die last minute.

“But you like actually ended his life!” the smaller male squeaked as the blond immediately shoved him into a nearby wall, placing a hand over his mouth to quiet him down. His eyes were glaring into the ginger’s: calm, golden eyes meeting anxious, brown ones.

“Yes, I did, because if I did not, he would have ended yours,” he whispered simply, eyes never leaving the other pair. “So if you would like to keep breathing, I suggest you shut up.”

Hinata seemed to take his advice, tensing when he heard a gunshot echo throughout his house. He looked at Tsukishima in terror, though the other simply reloaded his gun and looked around.  

“You stay here, stay down, you get up and I will shoot you myself.” he threatened before leaving the ginger alone.

In order to avoid being shot—by anyone—he sat and hugged his knees to his chest, pretending the gunshots were fireworks. He curled up, escaping reality for the time being. He imagined his little sister and mother waking him up so they could all eat breakfast together, his dad’s boisterous laughter echoing whenever Natsu beat him at something. He imagined the warmth of the hugs and the love of the family within the house that was decorated with pictures from wall to wall.

When he felt a hand on his wrist, he grabbed it and twisted it until the person was on the ground, eyes narrowed before he realized what he was doing. He gazed down at the familiar blond head of hair, eyes moving from the person to the walls with broken frames and ruined photos.

“So you do know how to defend yourself...” the voice grumbled, Hinata immediately letting go and apologizing profusely.

“I..I never...I didn’t…”

“Doesn’t matter, we have to go,” he said. He handed Hinata a gun before picking him up and putting him over his shoulder. “If they get close, shoot them.”

Hinata felt sick.

“What?!”

“You heard me.” the other male spoke calmly before taking off into a sprint, Hinata holding the gun with shaky hands and sweaty palms. He never signed up for this, but after he shot the first bullet, he realized Tsukishima probably hadn’t either. He had probably thought this would just be similar to babysitting, though of course, this was a lot more intense than such a task. Even Hinata didn’t understand why people wanted him dead, or maimed, or captured, but he didn’t want to really find out.

“Keep shooting, idiot!”

Hinata grew irritated and shot a person right in the chest, a gasp leaving his lips as he swallowed hard. This sickness grew.

“Nice aim for a wimp.”

“Fuck off, Tsukishima.”

A chuckle was all he got in response.

* * *

 “Are you done puking?”

Tsukishima watched as Hinata heaved again, one hand on the ground while the other rested against his burning ribs. While the blond was impartial to the sight of blood, he assumed that the sight of blood was opposite to the shorter male. The protector had to admit, even he had seen a bit too much of it for one night. Hinata, of course, did not answer the blond's rhetorical question. 

Tsukishima sighed and just took the time to clean the blood off his weapons, occasionally peeking to make sure Hinata didn't pass out in his own vomit. That would suck to have to deal with.

When Hinata was spitting up nothing but bile and blood, he sat back, breathing heavily. Tsukishima thought the other’s eyes were a bit shiny before realizing tears were threatening to fall. The taller of the two wondered if it was because of what he saw tonight or the pain that he was probably going through from all the heaving.

The teens sat in silence, though Tsukishima placed his weapons back into the sheaths quietly. He turned to look at the ginger, a frown etched on his own features. The smaller male had a far off look in his eyes as if he was traumatized by what he had witnessed. Tsukishima cursed to himself. He moved towards the ginger and leaned down to take a closer look. He reached out place a hand on the other to snap him out of whatever daze he was in but was met with a flinch and gaze of fear.

‘I won’t be able to get him to go anywhere like this’ the blond thought, face giving nothing away. He rolled his neck and sighed.

“Just think of it as red paint,”

The ginger tensed at the advice and looked to finally look him in the eyes. Tsukishima wasn’t sure why it shocked him, though looked away as he held out a rag. Hinata took it with a weak grip, nodding in thanks. His voice hadn’t completely returned, the taller noticed, wondering if the ginger expected him to make a joke out of it or not.

He had to admit he had thought about it but figured this time was not one for jokes.

“If you think of it as red paint, it won’t bother you as much. Blood isn’t that scary once you get used to it.” he offered as reassurance. He looked back at Hinata to see that his eyes were hard and utterly stubborn as if saying 'I don’t want to get used to it.'

Instead of those words, however, Hinata nodded and whispered a small thank you. Tsukishima wanted to know what he was being thanked for: the saving his life or the advice. He eyed the sky for a moment before realizing that they had rested far too long and needed to get going. Assessing the fellow teen, Tsukishima concluded his options and picked one as quickly as he could.

He leaned over the smaller male and picked him up, shifting him in his arms as Hinata froze.

“H-hey!”

Tsukishima looked down at the male in his arms, taking notice that he no longer seemed on the verge of tears, but his face had gone red. He didn’t tease the other despite wanting to with a passion.

“You can barely walk and are probably on the verge of dehydration with how much you just vomited. If you passed out while we were on the move, I would leave you. Do you still want to argue?”

Hinata’s lips parted, but he just shut his eyes and accepted the gesture.

“Relax.” the blond muttered, not as irritated as he had been earlier. He began to walk, wondering why Hinata’s hesitance annoyed him, as well as why his shaking made Tsukishima want to make it stop. When Hinata leaned in closer and curled up, Tsukishima had to will himself to not look down, knowing that he would either feel irritated or comforted.

He wasn’t sure he was prepared if it happened to be the latter of the two.

* * *

 “He is doing well, you have done a good job, Kei.”

Said male bowed his head and eyed the brunette before him.

“Part of the job.”

“Oh~?” the elder asked with a grin, Tsukishima scoffing at the implications the other could make with just the gesture alone. “He seemed very comfortable curled up against you when you arrived”

“Shut it, Shittykawa,”

Tsukishima turned to a spiky haired male enter, Oikawa pouting at the intrusion.

“Sorry about him, Kei. He likes to make mountains out of molehills” he explained as a gasp echoed throughout the room.

“Me? I think you have me pinned all wrong, Hajime. What a shame, you’d think you’d know your own lover by now” he mumbled with an exaggerated pout before returning his attention to Tsukishima. His expression changed from playful to serious, the blond repressing a shiver that threatened to move down his spine. He had to admit that his majesty was right about the other’s mood swings: they were unpredictable.

“So what will you do now?” he asked as the younger frowned.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, Hinata is in the presence of the protectors now. He no longer needs anyone to look over him if he is here,” he explained as Tsukishima maintained his neutral expression. He hadn’t thought that far ahead, wondering if he would get reassigned to someone new or marked as inactive for the time being. Either situation made his insides churn. Inactivity was never good for a protector who was starting out.

“I will watch over him for the time being,” he said clearly, pushing his glasses higher onto his nose. “If he goes out, as he will be allowed to, he will still need a person with him at all times.”

Oikawa hummed in agreement and nodded.

“Whatever floats your boat~,” he said with a smile before turning to Iwaizumi. “Now to get you to actually go out and do something” he mumbled as Iwaizumi punched him in the shoulder, earning a whine.

“A lot of talk from someone who became a protector because of me” he replied as Tsukishima squinted at the information. Sensing the curiosity but knowing he wouldn’t ask, Iwaizumi continued.

“Shittykawa here was one of my assignments” he explained as the blond straightened. “After saving him, he was brought here as well, though because of his abilities in technology and his physical form, he was trained as a protector as well.”

“You fell for an assignment?”

Iwaizumi turned a bit red at the tone, but cleared his throat and nodded.

“Though it was after the fact, so I suppose it didn’t break any rules” he explained. “There is also the fact that protectors who were originally assignments are forced to break ties with the world outside of our own...so no one here would know he was one unless he told them” he continued. “The higher ups just don’t want anyone leaving and exposing us, I doubt they care about romantic endeavors”

Oikawa wrapped his arms around his partner and winked at Tsukishima.

“If only Hinata was a protector too, right Kei?” he asked as the youngest of the three seemed lost in thought. He let out a breath before standing, bowing to the two and leaving the room without another word.

“I think you broke him. Daichi and Sugawara are going to kill you.”

Oikawa pouted.

“You’ll protect me, won’t you?” he asked, batting his eyelashes.

Iwaizumi removed the arm around him and bowed formally.

“I’ll send you a postcard when you are in the hospital.”

“So rude!”

* * *

 

“Tsukishima?”

The blond turned from his seat on the bench at the familiar voice. He nodded in greeting, unsure of how to speak with the ginger now that he was no longer his official protector. While he would still watch over the shrimp, he couldn’t order him around like he used to...it would be uncalled for.

“How are you?”

The other was holding his hand against his chest, the other resting against his stomach. Tsukishima wondered why he hadn’t noticed how long Hinata’s hair was, or how pale he looked compared to other people.

“Good. You look better.”

Hinata grinned and ruffled his hair.

“Might be because I am no longer threatened with immediate death and all,” he joked lightly as he pointed to the seat beside the blond. “Mind it I sit?”

Tsukishima looked down and cleared his throat. It was weird. He wanted to be snarky and irritating, but he only managed a nod. Hinata was beside him in seconds.

“It is really nice here. Sugawara introduced me to everyone in your sector,” he said with a smile. “Kageyama apologized to me for having you as a protector” he admitted as the blond scoffed.

“His majesty is simply upset that I actually get gigs,” he muttered, Hinata’s laughter echoing in his ears. He felt a bit uncomfortable at the display of emotion, it not being a lesson that protectors really delve into. They were taught to protect, kill, save, survive, eat, and breathe. Feeling was not a priority.

“I told him I was glad I was your assignment,” he spoke as he nodded as if trying to prove his words. “No one else would have been as patient or careful,” he mumbled.

“I yelled at you and called you a moronic shrimp half the time.”

Hinata blushed.

“But you never gave up on me and left!” he pointed out, turning to look Tsukishima in the eye.

“You stayed. That meant a lot,” he said as he calmed, fiddling with the bottom of his shirt. It was then that the blond took in the sight of Hinata in neutral clothing, seeing that it suited him considering his obnoxiously colored hair.

“Have you thought about what you are going to do?” Tsukishima questioned as Hinata looked over at him and tilted his head.

“What do you mean?”

“Have you figured out what kind of profession you want? What you are going to try and aim for?” he clarified as Hinata puffed his cheeks out.

“That is a layered question,” he teased but hummed as he thought about it. “I wanted to go pro at volleyball before, but I guess with the chance of another death threat that isn’t really possible,” he said as Tsukishima snorted.

“A shrimp in a game of height?” he murmured as Hinata immediately perked, fire in his eyes.

“I might not be tall but I am still useful!” he defended as the blond raised a brow and leaned in.

“How so, shrimpy?”

This was normal and far more comfortable: bantering.

“I am fast and can jump!”

The blond raised a brow. Agility and speed...that may come in hand should Hinata decide to…

_If only Hinata was a protector too, right Kei?_

No, Tsukishima shut the thought down. He couldn’t let Hinata become a protector; he would need to risk his own life for that job. Tsukishima spent almost half a year making sure the ginger sitting beside him survived and wasn’t prematurely murdered. He couldn’t let him die, or his hard work would go to waste...at least that is what he told himself was the reason for not wanting him to do it.

In reality, Tsukishima knew the reason why he didn’t want Hinata in the field but refused to admit it.

“You don’t believe me,” Hinata grumbled with a huff. “I’ll prove it...one day,” he said with a look of determination.

“I’ll show you how useful I can be.”

Tsukishima was a bit taken back by the declaration but lazily held out a hand. He smirked.

“Looking forward to it, shrimpy”

 


End file.
